Premiere: Soften Up With Oliver Riot’s ‘Harder’

If that January gloom is already kicking in, Oliver Riot have come to the rescue with a new track that’s as cozy and minimalist as your apartment once you get rid of everything that doesn’t spark joy. On “Harder,” the LA-based twin brothers reveal a gentle, entrancing sound that will appeal to fans of James Blake, How To Dress Well, and fellow sibling duo inc. no world.

“This song is about a good friend of ours who tried to take his life last year,” Oliver Riot tell us via email. “[It was] written as we would go visit him in the psych ward. We recorded it in the back of an old Korean church in California while we lived there illegally.”

Alternatingly punctuated by swelling strings and a bluesy guitar riff, there’s an evident reverence to “Harder.” The track is a taste of their upcoming Neurosis EP, following their debut Hallucinate. Listen to “Harder” below and follow Oliver Riot on Facebook and Twitter for more.